The Missing Kennedy: Rosemary Kennedy and the Secret Bonds of Four Women It was a traumatic occasion when Rosemary, the third child of Joseph and Rose Kennedy, was born in 1918. A nurse allegedly pushed her back into the birth canal and forcibly held Rose’s knees together for two hours while waiting for a doctor to arrive. She may have been deprived of oxygen, which resulted in her being slower and more uncoordinated than her eight athletic siblings. Rosemary grew up to be beautiful and vivacious, but she was prone to emotional outbursts. Her father tried to keep her out of the public view,